In previous posts I have discussed aspects from Shirley Clarke's book Unlocking Formative Assessment. One of the core components according to Clarke of formative assessment is quality feedback. Clarke has also written the book Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. The information I am discussing in this blog post comes from these books.
Feedback seems central to the success or otherwise of formative assessment. It also seems that this is the aspect of formative assessment that teaches are less confident and knowledgeable about. After reading Clarke's books I feel that there are some important aspects to feedback that teachers need to understand. It is important that teachers understand that feedback should be about the learning intention, it should be about the quality of the children's work and not a comparison with other children. It should provide specific ways in which children can improve their work and the only comparisons made should relate to earlier work by that child. Teachers also need to know what the next learning steps are in order to provide quality feedback and they need to create a learning culture in their classroom where feedback is viewed positively. Feedback can come in many forms. It may be oral or written. It is also appropriate at times to ask a question as a form of feedback.
Research has shown that quality, relevant feedback and feedforward has a positive impact on children's learning. Until reading Clarke's books I had not realised how vital it was to improving learning opportunities for children in my classroom. Clarke offers some really practical examples of good feedback in her book Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. I would recommend all teachers, not just primary teachers have a look at this book. It has some really good, clear advise on ways we can improve feedback for children.
In New Zealand we are very fortunate. We are able to use the curriculum exemplars, numeracy project progressions and the language learning progressions to helps us to understand children's current abilities and next learning steps. I don't believe that all New Zealand teachers use these resources as effectively as they could. The exemplars have now existed for quite some time and it is only recently that I have begun to use them to help me provide children with next learning steps. I have found these invaluable. I am going to make improving feedback my goal next year as part of my appraisal. It is something that I feel I can improve so that learning opportunities in my classroom are enriched.
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Hi Karla,
ReplyDeleteI agree you the quality feedback is so important. We have spent alot of time developing formative practice in our school, we have as a staff, used both books and a lot of discussion has happened. We discussed LI, SC and then we went on to feedback and feedforward. Both of these are important as this is where we can let the students know that we are looking at their work and we are assessing them and letting them know what they are doing well and what the next learning step is.
We have also talked about letting the students know what comes next- some of the staff do this by using the exemplars and showing the students each leve eg 1i, 1ii, 1iii for writing. This shos the children where they are at and also shows them what they need to strive for.
I congratulate you on making feedback an appraisal goal for next year.
Thank you for your feedback Greg. I have really enjoyed reading your contributions to both my blog and my learning.
ReplyDeleteI can see that your school is well on the way to successfully using formative assessment to improve student learning. I have used the exemplars in the way that you explained in your comment and I found this a really useful way to show children what their next learning steps are. The exemplars can asist in helping us to give quality feedback which as I have said is an important aspect of formative assessment.
I agree that quality feedback is invaluable. I know from recent experience that it is very frustrating to get a general comment such as 'well done', after you've slaved and sweated over getting your essay as good as you can. I felt bewildered about which aspects of my work were good and which needed improvement. It's certainly been a powerful learning experience for me and will influence my teaching in the future.
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